Three Lions and a Snake
by aForgottenWeasley
Summary: Arabelle Erikson gets sorted into Slytherin House where she finds out that it's not at all what it's cracked up to be. Determined to make her experience better, much to everyone's surprise, the Slytherin witch befriends a few Gryffindors along the way. [OC, Hermione, Fred, and George friendship.]


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! Long time, no see :)**

**Just so you know, _this _will only be a [ONE-SHOT]. It will be taking place during my OCs Second Year. It's just so you can see how she came to be friends with Hermione, Fred, and George. Please read the bottom note for more information of the full chapter story of my OCs life that will be posted under a different pen-name.**

**By the way, my OCs face claim is Lucy Hale.**

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Hogwarts was supposed to be the time of every little Witch and Wizard's life. The place where you learned to further control your magic, where you learned how to properly cast a spell, where you learned defense against the dark arts, and learned to properly brew potions as well as many other things. But for little Arabelle Erikson, Hogwarts wasn't was she thought it'd be.

Her First Year, after being placed in Slytherin, was a major let down. She knew of the prejudices that the other Houses had against Slytherin but she didn't think it would have been all that bad. But boy, was she ever wrong.

The day after house placement, other students including the other First Years had avoided her like the plague. Gryffindors, especially the older students, were constantly bumping harshly into her as they past in the corridors and sneered down at her. Her only friend, who came in the form of Draco Malfoy, had tried to get her in the inner circle of the older Slytherins but Arabelle was having none of it. Their views on the purity of blood didn't sit well with her and not only that, the Slytherin females in her Year were very nerve grating. Especially the one girl whose name was Pansy Parkinson.

As Second Year rolled around, Arabelle had made it her mission to have a better year than the last and make new friends. Even if it meant befriending those who were in other Houses that weren't afraid of her just because she was a 'snake'.

With shoulders pulled back, back straight, and chin held high- Arabelle walked down the a corridor with no destination in mind. Draco was off practicing Quidditch so the small witch was left to find entertainment all on her own. Dark as night hair framed her pale, round face; green eyes sparkling in determination as to not let the students who scowled in her direction get the best of her.

Heading into the nearest bathroom, Arabelle quickly ducked inside as to get away from all the sneers and stares. Even though she did her best to ignore everyone, she was only a kid after all.

Turning on the cold water to the nearest sink, Arabelle wet her small hands and then pressed her cold palms all around her heated face. She repeated the process a few more times before turning off the faucet and wiping her face dry with the sleeves of her robes. Just because she was a pureblood didn't mean that she enjoyed rebelling a bit against her etiquette lessons.

Sniffles sounded from the furthest stall in the room and Arabelle froze wipe. Thinking it was a trick of her mind, she froze in place and waited to see if what she heard was really there or if she was just hearing things. After all, she was in an ancient castle. As the seconds ticked on, someone sniffling echoed through the bathroom.

Frowning, Arabelle took a step towards the last stall. "Hello? Is everything okay?" She called out.

The sniffles immediately ceased, followed by a timid small voice. "Y-yes. No need t-to worry."

Arabelle's frown deepens when she reaches the stall door and gently pushes it open. "I'm sorry but I'm calling bluff." The door swings open and she is met with a puffy red-eyed, bushy haired girl. The red and gold of the tie tips Arabelle off that she's a Gryffindor. "You are not crying in the girl's bathroom for nothing. Now, what's wrong?"

The brown-eyed girl slightly glares up at her, her eyes landing on her tie. "You're a Slytherin." She frowns.

"Yes and you're a Gryffindor." Arabelle rolls her eyes. "I hate asking twice but since it seems you've had a terrible day, I'll be nice. Now, what's wrong?" Arabelle stands tall in the stall doorway and crosses her arms over chest to let the witch know she's not moving until she talks.

"You wouldn't care." The girl tells her. "It was your friend and House that made me cry in the first place." She admits honestly.

"My friend?" Arabelle's hands fall to her side. With a sigh, she offers her hand to the witch to bring her out of the stall. "What did Draco do to you?"

"Why do you care?" The girl sniffled again. "Are you going to make fun of me, too?"

Arabelle narrows her eyes but pushes her anger aside. After all, it was her friend who attacked the witch and made her cry. "I care because it's who I am. Most people don't give me enough credit to make a name for myself because I'm in Slytherin but just because I'm in Slytherin, it doesn't make me like them." She says. "And besides, I can't stand half the people in the Slytherin house anyway."

Her blunt honesty earns a watery chuckle from the fellow witch to which she quickly covers her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry. It was rude of me to laugh." She frowns a bit. "And I'm sorry for judging you so quickly."

Arabelle shrugs. "Eh. It comes with being a pureblood placed in Slytherin. Now,-" She grins encouragingly at the girl. "-are you going to tell me what Draco did or said?"

"He called me a mudblood." She quietly murmurs as she lowers her gaze, not catching the shocked expression that popped onto Arabelle's face. When she looks up though, she catches the heated glare that's directed at the wall beside her head before Arabelle looks back at her.

"I'll hex the slimy git." She seethes. "What was he thinking?!" Arabelle groans in anger. "He should know better than that!"

"B-but he's your friend!" The witch oddly comes to Draco's defense. "And besides, I said something horrible about his Father buying his way onto the Quidditch team. I kind of deserve the name-calling."

Arabelle's anger quickly vanishes as she snorts in amusement. "He is my friend, since we've been in nappies actually, but that still doesn't mean he can blurt the 'm' word out. It's a disgusting term that should have never been made up." She scowls. "And besides, that git absolutely sucks at Quidditch and Lucius did by his way onto the team."

The once crying witch is now wide-eyed as she looks at the witch who comforted her. "Are you sure you two are friends? I don't think friends talk like that about one another."

"We are." Arabelle grins. "We just have a special friendship where I can call him out on all his mistakes and he instantly forgives me because he knows I'm brilliant. I'm Arabelle, by the way."

"Hermione." The girl finally introduces herself. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Arabelle smiled. "Now, what do you say we clean you up and go shock everyone with our newly formed friendship?"

"You want to be my friend?" Hermione asks.

"Of course." Arabelle shrugs. "After all, who's going to be there to kick Draco's arse when he's being a git?"

Hermione smiles as Arabelle chuckles and the Slytherin witch helps the Gryffindor witch clean her face so it didn't look like she had been crying.

..

..

..

Days pass and sure enough, everyone is quite shocked by the friendship between the snake and the lion. Though other students scowl at the both of them now, Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall always have a knowing twinkle in their eyes whenever they catch the two witches giggling like mad whenever they walk down the corridors together. Of course, true to her word, Arabelle sent multiple stinging hexes at Draco whenever she saw him for saying the 'm' word and scolded him on not to use it ever again or else. He had rolled his eyes at her threat, saying she could do better than being friends with a _muggleborn _but Arabelle paid him no mind and sent tripping jinxes his way whenever he made a comment on her friend choice.

A few weeks in the odd friendship, Arabelle and Hermione were cornered by none other than Fred and George Weasley.

"Well, well, well.." One of the twins smirked.

"What do we have here?" The other peered over his twin's shoulder.

Hermione and Arabelle both froze, Hermione groaning when she saw who it was. "Oh, no. Not you two, too!"

Arabelle shut the book she had been reading from and placed it inside her book bag. "I think I should go, Hermione. See you tomorrow in class."

Arabelle stood but one of the twins quickly blocked her path. "Look here, Freddie. The wee little one is trying to escape."

"George." Hermione groaned in annoyance. "Let Arabelle go. She's done nothing to you."

"Of course, she hasn't." George smirked. "Because we'd get her right back. Girl or no girl."

Arabelle bit her bottom lip as her stomach felt like it suddenly dropped. Though she prided herself on being strong and powerful for her age, she really didn't want to pick a fight with friends of Hermione. "But it's not us we're worried about." Fred piped up. "It's you, 'mione." He told her. "We don't trust your new friend."

"I'm not going to do anything to Hermione." Arabelle sighed. "She's my friend and I quite like her company."

"Yeah." Hermione defended the Slytherin witch. "She got back at Draco for me when he called me a mudblood."

Fred, George, and Arabelle scrunched up their faces at the word. "Please don't say that word." Arabelle muttered.

"It's a ruse!"

"It has to be!" Fred agreed with George. "No Slytherin has the nerve to hurt their precious Slytherin Prince."

"The Princess does." Arabelle muttered lowly that she didn't think they'd heard her but was surprised when they did. At their inquiring raised eyebrows, Arabelle shrugged. "It comes with the last name." She told them. "Their families respect my family and blah, blah, blah.." She rolled her eyes. "While Draco is the so-called Prince, some see me as the little Princess. And besides, Draco knows not to be mean to me because I can get very embarrassing photos of him from when we were just babes."

A moment of silence falls over them before George and Fred crack matching smirks.

"One last test." Fred grinned as he held out his fist, opening his hand to reveal a small wrapped hard green candy. "A token of our friendship should you really be all that Hermione says you are."

Arabelle takes the candy quite cautiously, turning it over in her hands. Her eyes narrow in suspicion, which the twins catch, but smirk nonetheless at the witch's hesitancy. A group of chattering girls break the silence- the twins, Arabelle, and Hermione looking in the direction of the noise. Hermione immediately averts her gaze when she realizes it's a group of Slytherin girls, some glaring at them while the others keep their gaze averted and ignore them as if they weren't there.

As the group of girls pass them up, Arabelle suddenly gets an idea. "Pansy!" She calls out, rushing forward to catch the witch. "Pansy!"

Fred, George, and Hermione watch as the girl in question freezes and turns to Arabelle with a scowl. "What do you want, Arabelle?" She asks as the other Slytherin girls keep on walking.

"Here." She immediately thrusts the candy in Pansy's face. At the scowl which is still present on Pansy's face, Arabelle grins. "Draco told me to give it to you. He said it was your favorite flavor."

The scowl instantly vanishes, a lovestruck expression taking it's place and Arabelle resists the urge to roll her eyes. Behind Pansy's back, Arabelle can see Fred and George shaking with silent laughter. Pansy doesn't waste a second as she unwraps the candy and sticks it in her mouth. After a few seconds, Pansy groans appreciatively. "Oh, I can't believe Drake remembered I love green apple."

Arabelle mentally gags but then her eyes light up in amusement as she sees reptilian scales start to blossom all over Pansy's visible skin. Fred and George can't keep in their laughter any longer and Hermione, who is trying her hardest to keep her laughter in, bursts into hysterics. A few more seconds pass and Arabelle joins in with the laughter.

Narrowing her eyes at the laughing four in front of her, Pansy suddenly catches the discoloring of her hands and hold them up so she can get a better look. She gasps as she frantically turns her hands over repeatedly to make sure she's seeing what she's seeing before glaring at Arabelle. "What?" The accused witch holds her hands up in surrender and takes a step back. "Don't get mad at the messenger. You take your scaly problem up with Draco. He's the one who passed along the candy." She smoothly lies.

Pansy huffs in anger and stomps her foot before turning around and stomping away. The twins double over in laughter and Arabelle turns to them with a grin of her own. "You two are horrible. I quite like you."

"Ah, yes." George wheezes. "I believe we'll get along splendidly."

"Yeah." Fred agrees. "Anyone who can pit the blame on Malfoy and get away with it is brilliant in our books."

Hermione and Arabelle catch each other's gaze, both witches rolling their eyes playfully. "Boys." They sigh.

Little did they know, Arabelle Erikson would grow into a force to be reckoned with.

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**IMPORTANT NOTE: If you like Arabelle and wish to see more of her, please put **melissawtf **under an author alert. A chapter fic about Arabelle's life is currently under editing and will be posted in under two weeks. Now before you head on over, if you liked this tid-bit of her life, please know that the chapter fic is a cross-over between _The Vampire Diaries _and _Harry Potter. _**

**It's a Klaus/Arabelle fic but there is quite a bit of everyone else in it. (Rebekah, Caroline, Stefan, Elena, Damon, Bonnie, and even a bit of Matt.. as well as Fred, George, Hermione, and a bit of the rest of the Weasley clan and Harry.) I hope to see you alerting my other author name soon. **

**If not, well then I'm sad to say that it'll be a long while until anything else is posted under this (aForgottenWeasley) pen-name. **


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